Latin football league system
The Latin football league system is a hierarchically connected football leagues that are bound together through promotion and relegation. It features football clubs in Latium, and at times neighboring countries or territories, including Sasora. While geopolitically it is part of Latium, Perateia operates its own league system, which runs in parallel to the Latin leagues.
At the men's senior level, there are four fully fledged professional leagues, with Liga Primaria Calcitro serving as the top flight. Below division 4 are a series of professional and semi-professional regional leagues. Promotion and relegation between Liga Calcitro Pro (division 4) and and the regional leagues, collectively known as the Diocesan Leagues. Three amateur levels compose the remaining levels of the league system. Levels below exist the 10 key leagues exist, but are mostly unofficial and change from year-to-year.
The women's league system operates 5 levels, structured similarly to the men's system. The first division is the Women's National League, which is the only professional women's football league in Latium. The second and third tiers consist of semi-professional leagues, which often times include anywhere from 5 to 10 professional teams. Like the men's system, the women's system also operates with promotion and relegation.
Men's system
Structure
The top flight, or first division, of the league system is Liga Primaria Calcitro, which is the oldest professional sports league in Latium. Since the 2002 season, it has been composed of 20 clubs. At the end of each season, 3 clubs are relegated to Liga 2 Calcitro (division 2), from which 3 clubs are promoted. Three clubs are relegated from 2 Liga Calcitro to Liga 3 Calcitro (division 3). 3 Liga consists of 48 clubs spread across 3 divisions of 16 clubs each. A total of 4 teams are promoted from division 3 to division 2, and 3 teams are relegated to Liga Calcitro Pro (division 4). While 4 teams are relegated from Liga Pro to the regional leagues.
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Level |
League(s)/division(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 |
Liga Primaria Calcitro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2 |
Liga 2 Calcitro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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3 |
Liga 3 Calcitro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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4 |
Liga Pro Calcitro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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5 |
Liga Occidens Primaria |
Liga Periclea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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6 |
Liga Primaria Aternum |
Liga Penita |
Alba Liga |
Liga Cameria et Sabinia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Promotion and relegation rules for professional and semi-professional levels
- Liga Primaria (level 1, 20 teams): The bottom three teams are relegated.
- Liga 2 Calcitro (level 2, 22 teams): The regular season champion and runner-up are automatically promoted; the next four teams enter promotion playoffs. The last place finisher is automatically relegated. Teams finishing in positions 21 and 22 enter level 3's promotion playoff.
- Liga 3 Calcitro (level 3, 24 teams): The regular season champion and runner-up are automatically promoted; the next four teams enter promotion playoffs with teams finishing 23 and 24 in level 2. The bottom two teams are relegated to level 4.
- Liga Pro Calcitro (level 4, 48 clubs across 3 groups): The regular season champion is promoted; the playoff champion is promoted. Semi-professional teams are not eligible for promotion to level 3. The bottom four teams in each division enter relegation play-outs; the lowest four teams following the play-out are relegated. If a team from division 5 earns promotion but is not a professional club or fails to turn professional, the highest seeded of the lowest four is not relegated.
- Liga Occidens Primaria and Liga Periclea (level 5, 24 teams each, running parallel): The regular season champions of each league is promoted; the next four teams in each division compete in their respective promotion playoffs for the remaining promotion spot. If promotion or relegation leads to unequal divisions, teams are relocated between divisions as appropriate for balance. The bottom 4 teams of each league are relegated.
- Liga Primaria Aternum, Liga Penita, Alba Liga, Liga Cameria et Sabinia (level 6, 20–24 teams each, running parallel): The regular season champions of each league is promoted; the next four teams in each division compete in their respective promotion playoffs for the remaining promotion spot. The bottom two teams enter an inter-level playoff with the teams finishing second and third place in level 7. If promotion or relegation leads to unequal divisions, teams are relocated between divisions as appropriate for balance.
- Levels 8 and below are unofficial and are almost entirely composed of amateur leagues. Promotion and relegation takes place within many of these leagues, and at times may earn promotion to level 7.
Cup competitions
- ICA Emperor's Cup: One of the oldest professional sports competitions in the world. The Imperial Cup is a single-elimination tournament between all teams in levels 1 through 8, regardless of professional status. All clubs in the top 4 levels automatically qualify, and are granted bye rounds for the earliest qualification rounds of the competition.
- Copa Liga: The League's cup is a single-elimination tournament between teams in levels 1 through 4.
- Imperial Periclean Cup: An annual cup competition featuring the previous season's Liga Primaria champion and its Perateian counterpart Orientalis Liga play a two game home and home series based on aggregate.
- BFFA Champions League: Top-level continental competition in Belsiaria, in which the top four placed teams in Liga Primaria enter the group stage.
- BFFA Leagues: Top-level continental competition in Belsiaria, in which the teams placed 5 through 6 in Liga Primaria enter the group stage, and the team that places 7 enters the second qualifying round.